Value of duct tape for wart removal questioned

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Covering warts with duct tape does not enhance resolution of this common skin problem in children, according to a report published today. However, the authors of a related editorial suggest that due to "methodologic limitations," this conclusion may not be correct.

The findings from a small, non-placebo controlled trial indicated that use of duct tape improves resolution of warts compared with traditional freeze therapy with liquid nitrogen.

To verify the superiority of duct tape, Dr. Marloes de Haen, from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, and colleagues assessed the outcomes of 103 children, between 4 and 12 years of age, with common warts (known scientifically as verruca vulgaris) who were randomized to duct tape or inactive corn pad for 6 weeks.

In the active treatment group, the duct tape was to completely cover the wart and remain in place for 7 days. On the 7th night, the tape was removed and the wart was soaked in warm water for 5 minutes and rubbed with a pumice stone. The next morning, new tape was placed and the process repeated.

The authors note that the pumice stone was used to keep the duct tape intervention comparable to what was used in the earlier study.

Wart resolution was noted in 16 percent of duct tape users and in 6 percent of controls. Duct tape treatment was also associated with a disappearance of surrounding warts, but again the effect was not statistically significant.

Fifteen percent of duct tape-treated children experienced adverse effects, such as redness and itching, compared with none of the control subjects. Poor tape stickiness led four children to stop using it.

The findings suggest that duct tape is not a useful treatment for warts, the authors conclude. However, if researchers decide to investigate the topic further, the authors recommend that they use stickier tape and maintain a longer follow-up period.

In an accompanying editorial entitled "Interpreting Negative Results from an Underpowered Clinical Trial," Dr. Matthew M. Davis, from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues comment that "several methodological limitations in the study by de Haen and colleagues lead us to question the investigators' conclusions that the effects of duct tape were not significant."

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, November 2006.